Six days into the Tromso World Cup and three-quarters of the
field are heading home.

Some are more content than others.

Ray Robson could look back on a breakthrough tournament where
the US teenager crushed Andrey Volokitin 2-0 in the first round and, despite
being heavily beaten by Vassily Ivanchuk in his second match, Robson felt that
he played fairly well in all games. "The problem was that Ivanchuk played better,"
Robson said.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4In his first World Cup match
Robson had beaten Volokitin using 3.Nxe5 but Robson admitted "if I play
the same way as I did against Volokitin with Qc1 he would be prepared and he
can make a draw."3...Nxe4 4.dxe5 d5 5.Nbd2 Nxd2
6.Bxd2 Be7 7.c4 Nc6 8.Qc28.Qb3 was a better try.
"This was probably my one chance to play for advantage and it is only
something small," said Robson.
8...Be6 9.Rd1 Qd7 10.Bc3 0-0-0 11.Be2

Neglecting to secure the queen
with a3 once too often. Both players had used over an hour to reach this point
and normally the plan of pushing Ivanchuk into time trouble would be an
excellent one, but Black's position is much easier to play.11...Nb4! 12.Qd2 Qa4! 13.b3 Qa3
14.c5An unfortunate necessity.14...Bxc5 15.0-0 d4! 16.Bxb4Played after another long think.
16.Bxd4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 Nc6 18.Qc3 Rxd4 19.Rxd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Rd8 21.Qc3 Qxa2 is
too easy for Black.
16...Bxb4 17.Qc2 Bc3 18.Ng5 Kb8 19.f4 g6 20.Bc4 Qc5
21.Qd3 Bf5 22.Qf3

7...Na6Unorthodox play but "I had
to try to create something with Black," said Robson.8.Nc3 Nc5 9.Re1 Nfe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4
11.Qc2 f5 12.Ng5 Nd6 13.Bf4 h6 All the tactics work for White after 13...Ba6
14.Rac1! so Robson decides that he must go for something much riskier.14.Nf3 b5 15.c5 Nc4

16.b3!Effectively the refutation of
Black's set-up. The exchange sacrifice is amply compensated by the holes around
Black's king's position.16...g5 17.bxc4 Bxa1 18.Rxa1 gxf4
19.Rd1 bxc4 20.Qxc4 fxg3 21.hxg3
An automatic recapture, especially with both
players running short of time, but the silicon oracle informs us that 21.c6!,
with d6+ soon to follow, would have been devastating.21...Kh7 22.Nd4 Qe8 23.e3
Now Black is
living in a counterplay-free zone and Ivanchuk's only problem is how best to
improve his position.23...Qh5 24.Bf3 Qg6

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4
Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4"I thought that perhaps I
would get this," said the Cuban. "since Alexander played this line
against me before, though it was five years ago." 8.d4 is supposed to be
the major test of Black's system.8...Bg4 9.axb5 axb5 10.Rxa8 Qxa8
11.h3 Bxf3!?"In the earlier game Alex
played 11...Bh5," explained Dominguez, "and at first I didn't
understand his point [when playing 11...Bxf3]. But in fact Black is quite
solid."(Spanish GM Paco Vallejo was less
complimentary about Onischuk's choice - "Why would anyone give up the bishop
pair like that?" he asked no one in particular.)12.Qxf3 Nb811...Bxf3 had a bad reputation
since an early game which continued 12...0-0 13.d3 Qa1?! 14.Qe2!! when Black's
queen turns out to be misplaced.13.d3 0-0 14.Nd2 Nbd7

15.Qd1!"This 15.Qd1 and 16.Nf3
manoeuvre is quite important," said Dominguez. "At first sight it
looks natural to play Rd1 or Re1 and then Nf1-g3, but then he is in time to
play ...b4, ...bxc3 and ...Rb8 with counterplay - I think that was his idea.
With my knight on d2 ...b4 is not dangerous because I have the c4 square."
15...Bb6 16.Nf3 Nc5 17.Bc2"I was trying to play carefully. I felt
if I kept my bishops I would always be slightly better," explained
Dominguez.17...Ne6 18.Ng5! Nxg5!?"I was expecting 18...h6
19.Nxe6 fxe6," said Dominguez, "when I have 20.d4!. Then 20...Nxe4
21.Qg4 and 20...exd4 21.cxd4 Nxe4 22.Qg4 d5 23.Qxe6+ Kh8 24.Be3 should be good
for me though maybe he can try something like 20...c5!. But it is never
equal."19.Bxg5 Qd8 20.Qf3 h6 21.Bd2 Qe7
22.Ra1 Qe6 23.b4 Rd8 24.Ra3 Nd7?!
"Too passive. I was expecting 24...d5
25.exd5 Qxd5 26.Qxd5 Nxd5 and now I was thinking about27.Kf1 with the idea of 28.g3 and 29.Ke2 when
it is clear that White is better. So I was looking at 27...e4!? when after
28.d4 Re8 he is alive so perhaps(28.Ke2 exd3+ 29.Bxd3 was the best.)25.Bb3 Qf6 26.Qg3 Nf8 27.Be3! Ne6"If he takes on e3 my rook
will come to a7 and I will win this pawn on b5 somehow," said Dominguez.28.Bxb6 cxb6 29.Qe3 Nf4"Now he is completely lost
[on the queenside] and can only play for tricks," said Dominguez.30.Ra7 Qg5 31.Qf3 Rc8 32.Bxf7+"At first I thought that
32.g3 was winning on the spot," said Dominguez, " but then I saw
32...Rxc3 33.h4 Qf6 . The computer says that this is +3 for White so there must
be some way to play now, but I didn't see it."32...Kh7 33.c4 Qf6 34.Qg4 Rf834...Nxd3 allows 35.Bg6+! Qxg6
36.Qxc8.35.Qf5+! Qxf5 36.exf5 Nxd3
37.Bg6+ Kg8 38.f6! 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2
Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d5 6.Nc3 0-0 7.e3 Qe7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 c6 11.Qc2 Re8
12.Rab1 Ne4Now the players have transposed
to a Queen's Gambit exchange variation, though with an extra tempo for White.
(White has lost a tempo with his queen but gained two by Black being the player
who exchanges on d2 rather than White playing Bg5xe7.) Onischuk was perhaps
hoping for 12...g6 which Dominguez played against Bacrot a month earlier at the
Thessaloniki Grand Prix tournament. Then after 13.b4 b6 14.a4 a5 Black held a
draw, but only after long and arduous defence.13.b4 Ndf6 14.Ne514.Rfc1 looks like a better use
of the extra move. The knight looks good on e5 but gives Black chances to reply
to b5 with ...c5.14...Nxc3 15.Qxc3 Ne4 16.Qc2 g6!
17.Rfc1 Bf5 18.Rb3 a6 19.a4 Nd6! 20.Bxf5 Nxf5

21.h3 Draw Agreed

"If 21.b5 axb5 22.axb5 c5!
and now if he takes twice on c5 there is a mate on a1," explained
Dominguez. "That's what he missed. So now I can put a knight on d6 as it
is nothing for White."

Peter Leko and Michael Adams were
the biggest names to fall at the second hurdle, though Kramnik, Aronian and
Svidler needed rapid playoffs before progressing.

For Leko, a second round exit
was, he said, something of an achievement since he had lost in the first round
to Sam Shankland two years ago at the previous World Cup. Leko also pointed out
that he had played many of these World cups and KO World Championships and
never survived beyond the third round - an incredibly poor record for a player
who loses only a handful of games every year.

Adams' record in KO events has
been impressive - he missed out on the FIDE World KO title by losing the final
to Rustam Kasimdzhanov in 2004 - but he was well beaten in the second game of a
rapid playoff by the previously unheralded Ukrainian Yuri Kryvoruchko.

One player, eliminated in the first round, had reason to be more
unhappy than most. 17-year-old Peruvian GM Jorge Cori was in tears after he
misheard the starting time of a key playoff game against former Candidate
Teimour Radjabov and forfeited the game.

After finishing the first set of playoff games 1-1 against
Radjabov, Cori thought he was told a start time of 6.50 instead of the correct
6.15.

Just to be sure, Cori, whose English is poor, checked with an
arbiter; "Is the start time 6.50?" said Cori. "Yes," replied the arbiter,
expecting and therefore hearing 6.15.

Cori only realised his mistake when he saw the players seated
for the next round on his computer screen. He raced down to the playing hall
but arrived two minutes late. (In fact Radjabov had made 100% sure of the point
by stopping the clocks one second after they started and then making himself
scarce.)

Cori wrote out an appeal but then discovered that it would cost
$500 to submit it, a small fortune for him.

Commentator Susan Polgar stepped in to sponsor the appeal but it
was unanimously dismissed by the three FIDE officials on the Appeals Committee,
one member later saying that he didn't believe that Cori's English was bad and
that he probably just forgot to turn up.

But winners are grinners, and the top 2 US players proceeded,
though again in vastly differing styles.

Safarli v. Nakamura, Photo Cathy Rogers

Nakamura simply overwhelmed Azeri GM Eltaj Safarli in their
first game and left nothing to chance in the second.

3...e6!?The latest attempt to try to
defuse White's anti-Grunfeld system, one which has worked well for Maxime
Vachier Lagrave but looks simply weird.4.Nc3 d5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.Qd2
Nbd7 8.Bg3Preparing 9.e4, which if played
immediately could have been met with 8.e4 Nxe4!.8...c6Now White gets the big centre he
wants, but 8...0-0 allows 9.Qxh6 - the defect of having an extra ...g6 in a
Queen's Gambit position, while; 8...c5 is well met by 9.Nb5; However the text
move is inferior to 8...a6 (or 8...dxc4 and then 9..a6), preparing ...c5 or
...dxc4 and ...b5.9.e4 dxe4 10.fxe4 Bb4 11.Bd3 e5
12.a3 Ba5 13.d5 cxd5 14.cxd5 Nc5

Black had relied on this tactical
idea for relief but after Nakamura's simple reply, Black will have problems
with his e5 pawn.15.b4! Nxd3+15...Nb3 16.Qb2 Nxa1 17.bxa5 is
dreadful for Black; as usual two pieces are far better than rook and pawn in a
middlegame position.16.Qxd3 Bb6Deciding to sacrifice the e pawn,
a brave and probably correct practical decision given White's coming king
problems.
17.Nf3 0-0 18.Nxe5 a518...Re8 19.0-0-0 Nh5 was the
main alternative but there does not seem to be an obvious follow-up after
20.Nc4.19.b5 a4 20.Nc4 Bc5 21.0-0-0 Bg4
22.Rd2 Qe722...Rc8 23.Kb1 is safe enough for
White.23.d6 Qe6 24.Nd5! Nxd5 25.Qxd5
Rac8 26.Kb1 Qxd5 27.Rxd5

27...Be6?The temptation of material gain
proves too attractive. After [27...Rfd8 Black is still in the game.28.Rhd1! Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Bxd6Black is already regretting his
27th move, but this is pure desperation. In any case 30.d7 followed by 31.Bc7
was a winning threat.30.Nxd6 Rc3 31.Kb2 Rb3+ 32.Ka2
Rd8 33.Rd4 h5 34.Bh4 Rd7 35.Bf6 Kh7 36.e5 1-0

Not too early - 37.Rxa4-a8 is
coming. The next day Nakamura, playing Black, gave Safarli nothing in an Open
Ruy Lopez, and the comfortable draw sent the American number one through to the
third round.

Kamsky v. Shimanov, Photo Cathy Rogers

In contrast Gata Kamsky was relieved
just to survive against 20-year-old Russian Aleksandr Shimanov. ("I got lucky,"
Kamsky kept saying after the playoffs were completed.)

The match looked to be going
safely to the higher rated Kamsky after a smooth first game win.

21...Rc8! 22.Rb7 Bb4+ 23.Kf2On 23.Ke2 Qh4! survives for
Black.23...Qxb6! 24.Rxb6 Bc5 25.Rd1
Bxd4+ 26.Rxd4 dxc4 27.Nc3 Rc7 28.Rxa6 Ke7 29.Rb6 Ra8 30.Ke3 Ra3Up until this point Shimanov had
barely paused for thought, his home preparation having told him that he has no
problems in this position. However Kamsky stays cool and keeps probing; the
position is still a long way from a forced draw.31.Kd2 Ra5 32.g3 f6 33.exf6+ gxf6
34.Kc1 h5 35.Kb2 h4 36.g4 h3 37.Re4 f5 38.gxf5 Rxf5 39.a4Black has liquidated a couple
more pawns but he cannot wait around because White is threatening Ka3-b4 when
the a pawn might become dangerous.39...Rc6 40.Rb7 Rd6 41.Rxc4!

48.Nf1!Suddenly Shimanov understood what
he had done - the multiple skewers on the f file mean that he will lose his
bishop and cannot capture White's knight. Shimanov thought for over half an
hour but could not find a saving idea and the game concluded48...Rf248...Rg2 might have been a better
try but after 49.Rbxd7 Re1 50.Rd1 Rxd1 51.Rxd1 it is difficult to prevent the
White knight sacrificing itself for the h pawn at a suitable moment, e.g.
51...h2 52.Rd4+! Kg5 53.Nxh2 Rxh2 54.a5 and wins.49.Rdxd7 h2 50.Rh7 Rf3+ 51.Kb4
Re4+ 52.Ka5 Ra3 53.Rb4 1-0Then Shimanov threw caution to
the wind in the second game and the most entertaining game of the World Cup so
far ensued. Both players missed plenty of chances before Shimanov finally
triumphed, but it was Kamsky's missed queen sacrifice that left many pundits
shaking their heads in amazement.

1.e4 e5 2.f4This move and the follow-up
apparently came as something of a shock to Kamsky, who spent considerable time
over his next few moves.2...exf4 3.Bc4 d53...Qh4+ 4.Kf1 is usually what
White is hoping for when playing this line.; 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 is Black's
preferred defence nowadays but Kamsky's choice is also considered playable.4.Bxd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nf3 0-0
7.0-0 c6 8.Bc4!? b5?!Shimanov, by avoiding the main
line 8.Bb3,has succeeded in his aim of
moving Kamsky away from his comfort zone, and the Russian would not have been
unhappy to see Kamsky's risky response. 8...Nbd7 was reasonable, only playing
...b5 after 9.d3 .9.Bb3 a5 10.a4! Nbd7 11.axb5 cxb5
12.Nd5! Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Ra6 14.d3 Nf6 15.Ba2 Nh5 16.c3 Bc5+ 17.d4 Ba7 18.Ne5

18...Qh4!?An hour behind on the clock and
with a dodgy position, Kamsky stakes everything on a caveman attack, one which
almost succeeds beyond his wildest dreams....19.Qd3 Rh6 20.Rf2?

"When I played this move I
immediately went to the toilet," admitted Shimanov, who saw that he had
just allowed a forced win and did not want his face to give that information
away. If White wished to play safe the right way was 20.Nf3, but in fact White
already has a winning continuation 20.Nxf7! Rxf7 21.Qxb5 when Black must
abandon his attack and retreat and after 21...Qe7 22.Bxf7+ Qxf7 23.Rxa5 the
wheels are falling off for Black. 20...Ng3?"Are you serious? Come
on." said Kamsky when informed after the game that he had missed20...Qxh2+!! , with the idea 21.Kxh2 Ng3+
22.Kg1 Rh1# His opponent just had a sheepish grin - he knew that he was
following Svidler's dictum about needing good play and good luck to do well in
a World Cup, but luck being more important.21.Nf3 Qg4 22.hxg3 Qh5! 23.Kf1?23.Nh4 was simple and safe.23...fxg3!Now Black is right back in the
game and Shimanov was also now joining Kamsky in time trouble.24.Rc2!?Taking a walk on the wild side,
since 24.Bxh6 Qh1+ 25.Ng1 gxf2 26.Kxf2 Qh4+ 27.Qg3 Qxh6 offers no real hopes
for the win which could overturn his first game deficit.24...Qh1+ 25.Ke2 Rf6 26.Ke3 Qh6+
27.Ke2 Qh1 28.Qd1!? Qxg2+ 29.Ke3 Qh329...Rxf3+! 30.Qxf3 Qxc2 31.Qxg3
Bb7 was much simpler and would leave only Black with winning chances.30.Ng1 Qh1 31.Bd5

31...g2?The obvious move, but it meets a
strong reply. The right way to threaten ...Rf1 was 31...Bh3! after which White
is in trouble. 32.Rf2!Yet again in a topsy-turvy game,
the tables have turned and this time Kamsky is not given a way back.32...Rg6 33.Kd3 Bg4 34.Qe1 Bb8
35.Bf4In time trouble Shimanov plays
safe. 35.Rxa5! Bg3 36.Rxf7! would have been immediately winning.35...Bxf4 36.Rxf4 Be6 37.Bxe6
Rxe6 38.Rxa5 f5 39.e5 g5 40.Rf2 f4 The Black pawns look scary but,
the time control reached, Shimonov had time to calm down and work out the best
way to neutralize any counterplay.41.Ra1 Rh6 42.Qe4 Rh3+ 43.Kc2 Re3
44.Qxg2 Qh5 45.Qd5+ Kh8 46.Ra8 Qg6+ 47.Kb3 Rxa8 48.Qxa8+ Kg7 49.Qb7+ Qf7+
50.Qxf7+ Kxf7 51.Kc2 h5 52.Kd2 Ke6 53.Nf3 g4 54.Nh4 Re4 55.Re2 1-0

For many players such a defeat
would be devastating, but Kamsky looked remarkably unstressed, even after he
was told about the missed chance. Since coming back from his eight year layoff,
Kamsky has taken Rudyard Kipling's famous poem If to heart - "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those
two impostors just the same..."

The next day, Kamsky
conducted the playoffs like a man without a care in the world and
Shimanov fell 2-0.

64.Kf5If there is still a draw, it
would involve trying 64.Rd5!! Ra3 65.Ke4! Kg6 66.Rg5+ Kh6 67.Kf5 Rxg3 68.Rg8!
when the two extra pawns are not enough, but such a lineis hardly likely to be found by a player with
onlya few seconds per move.64...Ra5+ 65.Ke4 Kg6 66.Ke3 Kf5
67.Rb3 f6! 68.Rc3 Ra2 69.Rc5+ Kg6 70.Rc3 Rg2 71.Kd4 h4! 72.gxh4 Kf5 73.Kd5 Rd2+
0-1

The next
game Shimanov played extremely provocatively with Black. Kamsky took up the
challenge with a piece sacrifice and eventually overwhelmed his gutsy opponent
to win the playoff 2-0.This writer
is another who is leaving Tromso, leaving behind the remaining 32 Grandmasters,
the efficient team of Norwegian organisers having their trial run for the 2014
Tromso Chess Olympiad and thesecurity
guards - finally allowed to search spectators as well as players. Leaving also
the remarkable town of Tromso itself; above the Arctic Circle resulting in
bright sun at 4am, a city library that looks like the Sydney Opera House, a
labyrinth of mountain tunnels including three roundabouts and of course the $30
hamburgers and $60 pizzas.

Thanks to
North Sea oil and gas, Norway has become an exceedingly wealthy country and
thanks to Magnus Carlsen's rise, some of it is being spent on top chess
tournaments.

***

World Cup
third round pairings:

Gata Kamksy
v Jon-Ludwig HammerKamsky takes
on the home town favorite who so far has looked untouchable. Kamsky will
be looking to exploit his opponent's time trouble so that when Hammer exceeds
the time limit he can utter the immortal words, "Stop, Hammer. Time."

Hikara
Nakumura v Baskaran AdhibanAdhiban
turned 21 in style two days ago on Indian Independence Day, beating Argentianin
GM Fier, having already caused a big upset by knocking out Alekseev in the
first round. Nakamura will be heavy favorite in this match but Adhiban has the
sensible, unbluffable style to keep Nakamura honest.

The player
that most neutral fans will be looking out for is 14-year-old Wei Yi, who has
already beaten Nepomniachtchi and Shirov and now takes on Mamdeyarov.

So
impressive has Wei's play been that it has already been suggested by a GM on
Facebook that Wei is matching Houdini's moves too closely. But
Wei's explanation in the commentary room of his win over Shirov, the game in
question, left no doubt that Wei was thinking for himself.

Round 3 games will begin at 9am AEST time on Saturday and can be
viewed with commentary by Susan Polgar and Laurence Trent on the official
tournament web site http://www.chessworldcup2013.com/